Clayton And Blades Host Hitmen

The Saskatoon Blades are back on home ice tonight as they play host to the Calgary Hitmen.

The Blades had their 3-game point streak to begin 2014 snapped last night on the road in Medicine Hat. The Blades got a late game-tying goal from Cory Millette in the 3rd period before Chad Butcher pounced on a rebound in the final 5 minutes, scoring the eventual game-winner. Millette took home 2nd star honours in the game while Blades goalie Troy Trombley was the 3rd star as he made 36 saves on 38 shots. On special teams the two teams combined to go 0 for 7 on the PP.

The Hitmen are currently the top team in the WHL’s Eastern Conference as they enter play with a record of 28-8-2-3 for 61 points. They also enter the game with 6 straight wins and 9 wins in their past 10 games. To try and slow them down, the Blades will turn to a former member of the Hitmen tonight.

Former Calgary Hitmen forward Chase Clayton meets his former team for the first time as a member of the Blades tonight. Clayton was acquired by the Blades back on October 20th after spending parts of 4 seasons with Calgary, appearing in 183 regular season games. In those games, the 22nd overall pick from the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft by Calgary posted 21 goals and 62 points. Since arriving in Saskatoon, Clayton has put up 4 goals and 9 points in 30 games. He will also be recognized tonight as the Blades Heinrichs Jewellery Player Of The Month for December.

Speaking of players attempting to slow down the Hitmen, the Blades might choose to start Troy Trombley. The goaltender has been arguably the hottest member of the team since the start of December. The 6’6 goaltender has put up at least a .900 save percentage in each of his past 11 appearances. Over the stretch, he’s posted a 2.83 GAA and a .932 save percentage. Included in that are starts in each of the Blades four games of 2014, registering two wins, a loss and a shootout loss to go with a 2.45 GAA and .941 save percentage.

Tonight’s game gets underway at 7:00PM from the Credit Union Centre. If you can’t make it down to watch the game live you can tune in on WHL Live, listen along on 92.9 The Bull or follow @bladeshockey on Twitter for all the game updates.

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